Bargaining Updates

TESTIMONIALS From Observers

Current Proposals With Latest Versions

Waiting on Admin responses

COMPLETED CONTRACT Proposals

• Access to Services
• Evaluations
• Flex Work
• Union Access and Rights

Bargaining Procedures (not in our contract)

• Zoom Ground Rules

All Passed Proposals

Below are all the articles that have been passed in negotiations. Generally, proposals are passed back and forth and move closer together. The more power we have, the more the administration will move towards our proposals until they reach a tentative agreement (TA). Once an article is TA’d, then it is done and placed aside until we have a full contract with all of the articles TA’d, at which point the members will have the opportunity to vote to ratify (or accept) the agreement, of reject it, allowing all the articles to be reopened and resume negotiations.

Our Path Toward A Strong Contract

As the Bargaining Committee, we will fight for a contract that makes Harvard more accessible, inclusive, and competitive by securing essential workplace protections and benefits, such as: salaries that keep pace with the rising cost of living in Boston, more appointment security to make these sustainable jobs, longer appointments, more rights and support for international workers, more cost-effective health benefits, paid parental leave, subsidized child care, enforceable protections against harassment and bullying, and more. 

To ensure this, we will: 

1. Make every effort to keep all academic workers are informed throughout bargaining
2. Encourage a majority of academic workers to participate in the process of winning a strong contract

We hope Harvard does not push back on key priorities as some other research institutions have. Either way, we know that in order to win the strongest possible contract we will need a strong majority of us to support the bargaining committee by actively participating in the process. Having the majority of all Academic Workers united behind the bargaining committee will give us the strength and leverage at the bargaining table to win a fair agreement with Harvard. We will use multiple strategies from our own and other campaigns to make it as easy as possible for you to stay informed and participate: 

Grassroots organizing: We will continue to engage in local outreach to colleagues to help keep each other updated, informed, and provide lines of ongoing communication with the bargaining committee, building on the strong track record of majority participation and support throughout our campaign so far. If you want to get involved in organizing please let us know here!

Bargaining updates: We will provide regular, timely updates on bargaining sessions to keep you informed of which proposals are being passed, as well as any progress or challenges in the negotiations.

Regular town-halls: We will host regular town halls to update the unit on our progress, to get feedback on updated proposals and to answer any questions. Participation in these forums by as many Academic Workers as possible will be critical.

Open email communication: We remain committed to being responsive to the priorities and needs of all Harvard Academic Workers by answering any emails that you send to harvardacademicworkers@gmail.com with specific concerns in a timely manner. This includes your reports of unfair labor practices — these will be kept confidential within the bargaining committee and we will work with you to help find immediate solutions. Identifying unfair practices also helps us to make sure that the contract will prevent these practices in the future. 

Topic-specific working groups: We plan to establish working groups as needed to provide support with the bargaining process. These groups will stay in regular contact with the bargaining committee in order to assist with research, give feedback on proposals, and drive issue-based campaigns that add to our leverage at the bargaining table.

Open negotiation sessions: While actual negotiation sessions will be between our bargaining committee and Harvard’s administrative team, we welcome interested supporters who would like to attend a session—we just ask that you reach out to us in advance by filling out this RSVP. We plan to bargain intensively to achieve the best contract as soon as possible and will post bargaining dates on our website as soon as they are scheduled. If you would like to observe in-person, please reach out to us at hawuawbc@gmail.com.

Sidebar conversations: “Sidebar” or off-the-record conversations between our bargaining committee and the administration can be a useful tool at the negotiation table when on-the-record negotiation reaches a roadblock, particularly for exploring underlying reasons for lack of progress that Harvard might not otherwise communicate. As a committee, we will make sure the entire bargaining committee is aware of the sidebar and agrees before using this tactic.

Bargaining Goals: We put great effort into incorporating as much feedback as possible into an inclusive set of initial bargaining goals to guide us in negotiations, drawing on surveys, electronic feedback, town halls, and hundreds of individual conversations, as well as best standards across the academic sector and other unionized institutions.  We continue to gather feedback through comments written by Academic Workers as part of the goals ratification process.